Mistletoe
by The Marauders3
Summary: The Marauders get into a bit of mischeif over their Christmas Break... read to find out!


Hello everyone, I'm back again for another Harry Potter story! Isn't it so wonderful? I got this idea one day while talking with my dearest darlingest friend and beta The Lonely Goatherd (luv ya), and it might not be the most original, but I want to write it, so there. Here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would be rich, and I would not have to write on fanfic, because I would have loads of publishers knocking on my door begging for my stories. But alas, that is not the case, so I get to share this with all of you instead! Enjoy!

Just a brief note: this is set over Christmas break during the Marauders' sixth year.

OOO

"I'm bored," complained Sirius, coming in from the snow outside and slouching in a chair by the fire.

"Good for you," Remus said distractedly, still trying to read the Muggle book he had brought along this year.

"Remus," Sirius whined, wanting attention.

No reply.

"Reeeeeeeemuuuuuus."

Still no answer.

"REMUS!"

"What?" Remus exclaimed, annoyed. He sighed and closed his book. Shakespeare would have to wait.

"I want to _do _something!" Sirius was getting mad at Remus for ignoring him.

"Go do that Hufflepuff girl you've been snogging, then."

"No."

"Why not?"

"She's a bad snogger."

"Then why do you still snog her!"

"She's the only sixth year still here besides Lily who's actually worth snogging."

Remus snorted. Sirius could be too much sometimes. "Speaking of Lily," he said, hearing loud voices coming from the other end of the common room.

"I can't believe you! What is your problem! You filthy dirty lying little bastard!"

The boys watched Lily storm off to the girl's dormitory, her Charms homework clutched tightly in her hand.

James stood up from his corner table where he had been copying Lily's homework. "Well," he said, a small smile gracing his lips, "wasn't that entertaining." He coughed a bit and quickly fled from the common room.

"I'm still bored," Sirius proclaimed after a moment, slumping back into his seat. Remus only rolled his eyes and went back to his book.

OOO

"Remus, I have a wonderful idea!" Sirius cried a while later, sitting up and clapping his hands together excitedly.

"Hang on, I'm almost done." Remus read the last two lines of his book, then snapped it shut and turned his attention to Sirius. "What is it?"

"Okay, here's the plan…"

OOO

Meanwhile, in the library, James was wrapping his Christmas present for Lily. "There!" he exclaimed as he straightened the bow, earning a sharp "shush!" from Madam Hurst, the librarian. He grinned at her and looked down at the neatly wrapped box that was sitting on the table in front of him. Lily would love it, and it would set off the flecks of gold in her green eyes very nicely…

OOO

"Good idea Sirius. Be where on Earth are we going to get mistletoe?"

"Easy. We steal some from that one Christmas tree in the Great Hall."

"Steal some? But Sirius, I'm a Prefect; I can't get caught stealing stuff."

"Ever heard of a little thing I like to call an Invisibility Cloak?"

Remus grinned. "So not only do we steal mistletoe, but we steal James's Invisibility Cloak too?"

"Yup. Let's do it tonight while he's asleep."

"No, I thought we would do it in broad daylight so he can watch us take his most prized possession and use it for our own personal pleasure."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Moony."

(later that night, around 1 am)

"Sirius?"

"Remus?"

"You awake?"

"No, I'm sleeptalking."

Remus snorted. "We better get it over with before I change my mind."

The two teens wrestled briefly with James's trunk before retrieving his Invisibility Cloak, covering themselves with it, and sneaking out of the dormitory.

"Who's there?" the Fat Lady called sleepily as they swung the portrait open. Sirius stifled a giggle and Remus had a hard time trying not to snort at the thought of Sirius giggling. But really, they had done this a million times before, why was it suddenly funny? Maybe it was just the novelty of playing a trick on James for a change.

Finally they reached the Great Hall without meeting anything along the way. Remus carefully opened the heavy oak doors a crack and they slipped through.

"_Lumos_," Sirius muttered, whipping off the cloak and lighting his wand to see in the inky blackness of the Hall. Remus took his lead and did the same.

Sirius bounded over to one corner of the Great Hall and inspected the giant fir before him. "This should do nicely," he said, plucking a sprig of mistletoe off one of the branches and holding it out in front of him like it might bite. Remus smiled at his antics and they quickly left the Great Hall to play their trick on James.

OOO

"Get up, get up Prongs, it's Christmas!"

James woke up to find Sirius bouncing on his bed, whacking him over the head with a pillow, and squirting him with water from his wand all at the same time. He groaned and looked over at his clock.

_6:30._

"Too early." He rolled over on his side and tried to ignore Sirius's actions and Remus's laughter in the background.

"It's CHRISTMAS!" Sirius shouted, then gave up on James and ran out of the dormitory to see how many presents he got this year.

James slowly got out of bed and put on a white undershirt to cover his bare chest before going out into the common room. Remus followed him, trying not to laugh at the mistletoe hovering above James's head.

They boys entered the Gryffindor common room to find Sirius digging under the tree, trying to see how many presents he received. "Only 17? That's one less than last year!"

"You really got gypped, Sirius," Remus said, perching on the arm of the couch in front of the fire.

Sirius didn't reply, but only started ripping the wrapping paper off one of the bigger presents. James began to sort out his own presents as two girls emerged from the girl's dormitory.

Melinda, a little first year, pointed to James and whispered behind her hand to Kate, her third-year sister. _(I borrowed your name for lack of a better one_) They both giggled and came up behind him. Remus could tell they were up to something, and he knew what. James's head popped out from under the tree and he straightened himself out, pulling a wrapped box with him. Melinda, always the fearless one, walked right up to him and started talking.

"Oh Jaaaames," she said, batting her eyelashes a bit. Remus hid a smile.

"Oh Melindaaaaa," James replied, playing along.

"We're standing under mistletoe," she said flirtatiously while coming even closer to him. Sirius stopped admiring his new collector's tin for Famous Witches and Wizards cards to watch the ordeal.

"Really? Mistletoe? I hadn't noticed," James said, glancing up to find mistletoe above his head.

"You know what that means," Melinda whispered, now nearly hanging off him.

"Oh yes I do!" James exclaimed, swooping her into his arms, depositing her, still standing, on the couch, and kissing the now-his-level first year lightly on the lips. She giggled and ran off to join Kate in the corner, who was staring at James in awe.

"Come here, Kate," he said gently, motioning for her to join him on the couch. She smiled nervously and went to sit next to him. "You know," he said, putting his arm around her and making her blush, "we're sitting under the mistletoe." Kate was speechless, so she only nodded. "I think we both know what that entails," he murmured, and leaned down to snog Kate senseless. Well senseless for her, seeing as she had never been snogged before.

When James broke off after about a second, Kate jumped up and ran to the corner, blushing a rather unattractive shade of magenta. James laughed and started unwrapping his present.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other, then over at James. They had a hard time trying not to laugh. The mistletoe was still hovering two inches above his head, and he hadn't even noticed yet.

Sirius had an idea. It would be the perfect way to embarrass James. "Heeeeeeey James," he said, sliding up right next to James on the couch.

"Sirius," James said cautiously, wondering what he was up to.

"We're sitting under the mistletoe," Sirius whispered, batting his eyelashes and putting his head on James' shoulder flirtatiously.

"Gerroff me!" James shouted, pushing Sirius off him. Sirius only giggled and snuggled closer to James, acting rather like Melinda had. James was giving him a death glare.

"Hey, you two_ are_ under the mistletoe, you'd better start snogging!" Remus cried.

"UGH!" Sirius jumped up from the couch and ran to the other end of the common room. "Hey, Melinda, why don't you kiss him for me?" he said, only loud enough for the little first-year to hear.

Melinda was going to cheerfully agree, but then she had a better idea. "Come on Sirius!" she cried. "He's a good snogger!" Kate nodded her approval.

Sirius paled as Remus grabbed him and marching him to his doom. "NOOO!" he cried when Remus pushed James toward him, grinning wickedly. (I need a word besides 'cried', help!)

"Come on you two, show some brotherly love!" Remus said, apprehensive as to what they would do to him afterwards. James and Sirius only stood there, doing their best not to look at each other. "Do it or else I'll hex you," Remus warned. This caught their attention. They both knew how bad his Bat Bogey Hex could be.

"Just a quick one then," Sirius said hurriedly. Better get this over with.

"Don't try any funny stuff." James tried his hardest to keep his voice from shaking, but couldn't. He _really_ didn't want to snog Sirius.

"Get on with it!" Remus suppressed a laugh as Sirius and James leaned in to each other, eyes screwed up tightly and mouths puckered like fish. Their lips touched for a split second before they pulled away, Sirius making gagging noises, James wiping off his mouth.

Remus and the girls couldn't take it any more. They bust out laughing, Remus bent over double and clutching his stomach, while Melinda and Kate grabbed each other for support as they gasped for breath. James was giving them his infamous death glare as Sirius blushed a rather unattractive shade of fuchsia.

"Wuzgoinon?" Lily, awaken by the raucous laughter, trodded down the stairs dressed in nothing but her plaid sleep pants and a very tight-fitting long-sleeved sleep shirt. James' jaw dropped, Sirius grinned and nudged Remus, who noticed that Kate had a very jealous expression on her face. (sorry dear, just had to do that!)

"Good morning, my fair lady," James said, getting over his dumbfoundedness after a few seconds. He strode over to her and offered his arm for her to take.

"Mm, being a proper gentleman today, James?" Lily asked, smiling and kissing him on the cheek. "How nice." She was clearly still half-asleep and not thinking properly. She had always hated James, and still did. So what was going on? The Christmas spirit in the air seemed to be getting to her head.

James grinned. "It's my Christmas present to you," he said, leading her over to the couch in front of the fire. He sat her down and then sat a respectable distance from her. Might as well milk this 'gentleman' thing for all it was worth.

Lily, however, slid right up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling close. James smiled slightly and very nearly kissed the top of her head. "And this, my dear James, is _my _Christmas present to _you._" She sighed and continued. "I will be terribly nice, and even romantic if you like, to you for one day. I think that's a better gift than the Quidditch boxers Remus told me to get you, hmm?"

"Oh, I don't know. Quidditch boxers have a certain kind of appeal to them, but I don't know if I can top _this. _Really Lils, being romantic to me?"

"James."

"Lily, just because I _am _being a proper gentleman today doesn't mean I didn't get you a real present too." James gently eased Lily off him. She sat up straight and got teary-eyed when he handed her his gift.

"Brown paper packages tied up with string," she murmured, staring at the package. "Oh James, how did you-?"

"Just open it."

Lily carefully untied the string bow and unwrapped the brown paper to reveal a scarlet velvet box. "I hope you're not proposing, because I'd turn you down," she said, smiling. He only gestured for her to open the box. She did, and gasped. "Oh James," she breathed, her eyes wide. "It's gorgeous!"

"I thought you might like it." He grinned. So his mother _did _know what girls liked after all!

Lily smiled and pulled out the golden heart-shaped locket. "James, I can't believe you'd get me something like this! It's beautiful!"

"Put it on," James urged. He wanted to see how lovely it would look on her.

"Help me."

James fastened the delicate golden chain around her neck and turned her around so he could see how she looked. "Lovely," he proclaimed, kissing her hand like the proper gentleman that he was.

Lily smiled. "Thank you so much, James! I love it!" She reached up to hug him tightly around the neck. He grinned and pulled her close. She stiffened a bit, but relaxed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Wait a minute, lemme get my camera!" Sirius cried, jumping up from his spot on the floor where he had been watching the action with a smug grin.

"Sirius, don't you dare!" Lily pulled away from James, but he caught her by the elbows. "I just got up!"

"Lily, you look _fine,_" James tried to reassure her.

"James-"

"Lily."

"James!" She was trying to get away from him, but he wouldn't let her.

"Lily! James!" Remus was suddenly struck by the quite obvious fact that they were both standing under the mistletoe above James' head. "You're standing under the mistletoe."

"WHAT!" they both cried, jumping apart and looking up. Sure enough, the sprig of mistletoe was hovering above them.

"Ahem," James couched, clearing his throat and glancing around nervously. Lily gave a fake, nervous giggle.

"You both know what mistletoe entails."

James glanced at Lily, who looked down at the floor to try to hide the blush that was covering her cheeks.

"Come on!" Sirius complained. "I want to see some snoggage!" When neither James nor Lily budged, Sirius decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. "James, if you don't kiss her, then I'll have to do it for you."

Lily's eyes got about as big as dinner plates and she turned to face James again. "Erm, James, I'd kinda rather _not _kiss him, so…" She came closer to James, put her hands on his shoulders, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips.

However, this wasn't an ordinary mistletoe-kiss. This went way beyond the norm. Neither of them was expecting to feel such a rush of emotion. Lily didn't know why she was straining to get closer to him, James didn't understand why his arms were tightening around her waist of their own accord, they just knew that this felt _good_!

Sirius, Remus, Melinda, and Kate all looked on in amusement, amazement, and jealousy. Of course everyone knew that Lily and James had crushes on each other (even if they wouldn't admit it), but no one was expecting _this_!

Finally the couple broke apart, breathing heavily and at a terrible loss for words. After a few moments of silence, James knew he had to say _something._

"Well," he started, coughing a bit like he always did when he was nervous, "wasn't that the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten."

OOO

Yup, so that's Mistletoe. My latest attempt at a Marauders-era HP story. Like it or not, review please!


End file.
